Why It Hurts
by DyinggFlower
Summary: AJ hates Valentine's day, and Tamina finds out why. The diva's champion realizes she's not alone as she thinks she is. V-day Friendship Fluff/Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: I do not own the WWE/it's related names, or any of it's affiliates. This is rated M for profanities/abusive themes. There's a happy ending though. Please review and enjoy!**

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AJ stared blankly at the mirror that reflected her at the vanity she occupied. Her hands repeatedly fiddled with her messily curled pigtails that sprawled over her small chest. The diva's championship rested securely in her lap.

Tonight on Smackdown, AJ's attire consisted of the usual "Love Bites" shirt, having the usual slits. She wore her usual jorts, and her usual thigh high converse with the usual hot pink laces.

Today for most people, was anything but 'usual'. It was 'special'. February 14th. Valentine's day. Everything about it made her gag, and today simply left a bitter taste in her mouth. She hated this day, and being single wasn't the only reason why.

Tamina stood from the distance and gave AJ a concerned look. The petite champion was usually never this quiet. By this time, AJ would go over their strategies and maniacal ambushes she couldn't wait to perform, All while a happy smirk remained on her lips.

Twenty minutes of complete silence went by in the private dressing room, with AJ killing time by reading a comic book. Soft sighs sounded from her lips here and there. Escaping was easy, but today it was just too hard to do.

The superfly diva never did pry. Since day one, she'd always let AJ initiate the conversation. It was strange, but it was how she knew that things were okay.

"Tamina." AJ broke the silence.

"Yes, April?" Tamina answered.

"Do you ever feel... alone?"

Tamina quirked a brow at AJ's words. She wasn't sure how to decipher the angle of such a broad question.. though, this was progress.

"Not really. I was, evidently, independent before I joined you."

AJ nodded, smiling softly until a faint sob left her lips.

Tamina crossed her arms and walked over to her ally. The superfly's strong hand slowly stroked the back of her slitted shirt, carresing atop of the heart logo as if she could cradle the pain away. She hated hearing AJ cry.

"My parents always fought on this day. No matter if we had enough food to get through another day, or if the cable didn't go off yet.."

AJ trailed on, angrily biting her lip as the tears fell onto her knees.

Her parents always did fight, but the abuse and the blame game always mounted on Valentine's day.

_"You're a whore! You don't love me! You'd rather stay home instead of renting a suite!"_

_"We have to pay the fucking bills! we can't splurge on that..."_

_Smack._ Everything onward, AJ hated to remember. Those details remained blurred out. Her father made decent money. A knock off merchandise salesman that partied the bill money away.

He felt 'entitled' to the weekend.

_"What the fuck do I have in this shack? I'm bored to death here."_ Sob.

That piece of shit always said how her mother didn't mind snorting the prior weekend. Whatever that meant. The sirens outside their window was the only solace AJ found, all while she hid in her closet, sobbing lowly with a comic book clutched in her hands. She always wished Batman was real. He wouldn't let any of this happen.

"She was stupid-my mom. No matter how hard she cried from the bruises, she'd let him back in when it got dark. I'd ask her. Why mom? Why didn't the cops come this time? And you know what she would say? It's Valentine's day, April! I love him!"

AJ's voice went up an octave a condescending tone.

Tamina nodded. The crimson haired superfly knew fragments of AJ's former life. Domestic violence shaped any girl that went through it. 'Family' was a blacklisted word in AJ's vocabulary. Tamina took note of that long ago.

"I mean. I'm fine now. I'm not there anymore. Even though I'm fine without... I mean. I hate these memories. Today. I don't want to feel so..."

Tamina interjected, gently brushing away raven curls that fell into AJ's face.

"Affected. by the past." Tamina said softly.

The petite champion's sobs finally dimmed down. She wiped her eyes and glared at her own reflection. Her pink lips then pursed into a devious smirk. Tamina knew that look more than anyone.

"Yeah. But. That's over with. Smackdown is the present. I have a match with Cameron. Shame she has no one to dance with. Courtesy of Aksana!"

AJ found it easy to replace her pain with someone else's. A dysfunctional life lesson her parents implanted in her head. It was practically instinctive.

Without remorse, she referred to Naomi's eye injury with a pleased look, rising to her feet to hold her championship over her shoulder where it belonged.

No trace of emotion remained on AJ's tiny face as she skipped off to the arena hall with Tamina following. She was intact, and emotionally frozen. She was her own Batman.

Later on, the match had as AJ predicted, her match with the ombre haired diva was a cakewalk with no outshining support from Naomi on the sidelines.

The petite champion flashed a perfect smile as she backed up on the titantron with Tamina at her side. She laughed as the cameras panned to the ring where Cameron struggled to stand.

Backstage, the joy from her victory was soon relinquished when the other divas squealed with delight as they ran to wherever they needed to go.

None of them had any reason to be at work today, but their flashy dresses and trails of whorish perfume explained everything.

AJ's eyes remained on her own feet as she bashfully walked down the hall to find Tamina, who mentioned earlier that she needed to go to the infirmary for a check up before she'd meet her back at the lockeroom.

"What's the matter, AJ? You kissed a quarter of the roster and you don't even have a valentine? Poor you." Nikki said with a smirk as the petite champion walked past.

"Shut up, Nicole. You can't say that out loud." Brie scolded her twin when AJ was out of earshot.

"Silicone cunt." AJ mouthed silently for Nikki, brushing off the insult as she went into her lockroom.

The sight of messily stacked choclate boxes and twelve loose roses that surrounded a neatly wrapped box on her vanity caught AJ's attention. It looked like Cupid's puke. Those weren't there before. Was this a prank by those Total Sellouts? AJ thought as she walked up to the foreign present.

Slowly, her fingers pulled the pink ribbon loose, then slowly scraped away the metallic white wrapping.

AJ's eyes widened at what the box contained. A perfectly framed photo of

Tamina and herself standing at the titantron several feet apart.

The superfly diva posed confidently, looking over at AJ who faced her with the biggest smile.

This was one of their first shows together. AJ wore her raglan sleeved Love Bites shirt, with pink striped socks right above her grey converse.

The petite diva couldn't remember why, but she was happy that day. She only wore pink when she was happy.

The words "Family is a little world created by love." neatly read in white script at the bottom of the black frame she held to.

When Tamina entered the room, she cleared her throat to obtain AJ's attention that hadn't shifted in seconds.

"You said you hated the memories this day brought back... I wanted to change that. The quote is... stupid. Still, I wanted to help you see the word 'Family' in the way it should be.."

Tamina said sternly as her eyes nervously met AJ's shocked stare when the picture frame slipped out of her hands.

The petite champion tackled the tall superfly diva and sobbed against the Love Bites fabric atop her chest. It was a cheesy quote. But it was right. Family can't exist without.. love.

"It's.. the stupidest quote ever! I didn't expect such weakness from you, Tamina!" AJ's sobs were replaced with laughter.

Tamina quirked a brow and smiled when AJ hugged her a bit tighter. The remnants of her tears dried completely. Did Tamina really mean that?

"Weakness? Do you want me to remind you what a Samoan Drop feels like?"

The crimson haired diva grinned playfully, placing a hand on her hip when AJ broke from their hug to gather the dozen roses in her hands.

"As if you could? You're hillarious. By the way, I know you're not very feminine, Tamina, but it's common knowledge to put flowers in a vase!" AJ said as-a-matter-of-factly, standing the picture frame up next to neat pile of flowers.

"Hmphf. Since when did you get so feminine?" Tamina questioned with a smirk.

"Since my family mistreated my V-day gift! Now go get me some water! Poison Ivy would kill you for this!" AJ retorted, scurrying to the nearby closet to find something to place the roses in. They were beautiful.

Tamina smiled softly. The gleam in AJ's eyes finally came back. She knew the champion hadn't said the word 'family' in years, much less with any hint of joy in her voice until now.

She couldn't believe how much she loved the skippy diva, and she loved seeing her smile just as much.

To AJ, they definitely were a family just as that. She just never knew what to call their bond until now, and like the photo in that annoyingly poetic picture frame, that word never matched anything so perfectly.

"Happy Valentine's day, April." Tamina said to herself proudly, heading to the bathroom and resisting the urge to victory skip. That just wasn't her style.


End file.
